Relationships are everything and the way you leverage them and yourself are important. Those who respect relationships typically become people of great influence. By leveraging positive relationships, you will discover ways to create opportunities for others as well as yourself.

Tips on how to leverage relationships in a positive way.

1. Develop Partnerships with those you want to leverage to achieve common goals. The best first impression, is one that is mutually beneficial.

2. Lay your desires on the table. You have to understand that a person of influence did not become one over night and has more experience than you may know. That person may already know your intentions before you shake their hand or smile in their face so be honest with your objectives.

3. Show gratitude. If you experience gain, make sure to create opportunities to pour back into those you leverage. It is an ongoing cycle of business. Replenish your relationship and create a bond that will stand the test of time by sharing. Remember relationships are valuable and are not one sided.

4. Establish the value. Most people think inward instead of forward. It would be wise of you to know what it is you can offer someone of influence before sharing your objective. Also weigh the pros and cons of your relationships, and think of even exchanges. Whether it involves time or money, value is what professionals desire.

5. Become the Assistant. To become someone's assistant takes an enormous amount of trust from the person you are assisting. You will have to devote time into building this trust, however the rewards can out way the time spent asserting yourself. Becoming a great Assistant will work in your favor in terms of new leads, contacts, and opportunities that would not normally be in your favor. However, people love who they love so make sure you address your new leads the honorable way.

6. Do not create Conflict of Interest. Usually issues with COI arise when a you make aggressive business moves in the same area of business that your business associates are in. If you are partnering or assisting, Pace yourself so that you are not diminishing the character of the person you are working with or assisting. The last thing a person of influence wants are people around them who makes them look unprofessional by association. You will not be able to leverage relationship if your creating conflict of interest scenarios.

7. Be mindful of their objectives, and work as a team to achieve those goals. Remember everyone has something that they want to achieve so if you desire to leverage them it is a good idea to help them achieve what they desire.

8. Acknowledgement. Once you've achieved your desire by leveraging your relationships, thank them. At times, a simple thank you and acknowledgement can go a long way. This alone could help establish on going business relationships with people of influence.

My final thought, for everyone you know there are a hundred others that know them so be respectful when leveraging relationships. There are a lot more tips from which this came. If you like to learn more continue to express your interest and leave a comment.

There are two types of people in the world no matter how you divide them. You have extroverts and introverts. An extrovert is someone who is more out spoken and loves to be exposed to new people, places, and activities. An Introvert is basically the opposite. An Introvert can come off soft spoken and can be less intimate.

In achieving the level of success that a Success seekers desire, you will have to come out of your shell and become more intimate with your social groups. Hence, Let that ISH flow.

Intimate Social Hits can be achieved through becoming more of an extrovert. Interact with those who follow you on social media. It’s not a bad idea to have in mind those select few that you will continue to share information with.

Delete those that you have no common interest with. It may sound harsh but social media networks are becoming an extension of your environment. You’ve heard of the product of environment phenomenon. If you want to promote positive thinking and a can do attitude, the last thing you want is to be bombarded with a lot of foolishness from those you follow.

The way you use social media networks is really up to you, but in it’s simplicity it was designed for interaction between those who share common interest.

The more you interact with those you are connected with via Social Media, the more hits you will attract to your site.

Tips:

Pay attention to those that interact with you via social media, and make sure to correspond with them fairly. This can benefit you in many ways that I’ll discuss at a later time.

Add those who have similar interest so that you can learn from one another.

Share freely information that you find interesting. Your followers will feel rewarded from the information you share with them.

Stay personal but never loose focus for the reason you use social media networks. Be honest, most of us are really too busy for random post or would rather be living our lives.

Block random negativity from your Social Networks. It serves no elite purpose.

Eventually, you will want to take your socializing to the next level by inviting others to your events or attending theirs. Attending Networking Events are great ways to add to your private social circle and remain productive while having fun.

I've always supported positive thinking and still do. However, I have discovered that people use Positive Thinking as an excuse for mediocrity and laziness. Most time, People use positive thinking to pretend that everything is fine, when they really believe that it is not.

If you truly don't believe in what you need, telling yourself a lie will serve the same purpose as a knife and fork with no meal. No purpose!With Power Thinking, we understand that everything is neutral. Not bad or Good. I'll teach you that nothing has meaning except for the meaning we give it. We'll learn that by forcing ourselves to will things to be instead of just thinking them will yield positive result. We will create something and give that something it's meaning. We will define our goals not only in desire but in speaking a new language and taking definite actions.

By remaining unmoved by the stresses of our environment, we will gravitate towards our new Success Levels.To transform from a Positive Thinker into a Power Thinker is quite simple but it takes some effort on your part.

Things you should consider:

1. Finding a Mentor and a Life Coach. Your Mentor gives you particular guidance in terms of the business you decide to pursue. At times, Mentoring and Life Coaching may share some similar views; however, having a Life Coach will help unravel the inner knots in you that will allow you to succeed in various aspects of your business and personal life.

2. Surrounding yourself with Like minded people as much as possible. I'm not talking about the occasional Network Mixer, Party, or Event. I mean interacting with key people on a weekly basis. Interact with them on Social Media Networks as much as possible, and schedule time to meet with them in person. No matter how busy everyone may be, this will definite benefit you with controlling your environmental influences.

3. Design and Create your own set of Power Statements. You will have to work closely with your Life Coach in order to establish a set of routine statements. This is very important in reprogramming the way you think and react to negative stimuli. It's not always about what you think you should say or do, but what others have found acceptable to work.

If you find my writings useful, please share them with those who will utilize it. By doing so, you'll begin to build a network of your own and surround yourself with like mind individuals who will feed greatness into the New You.

Learn how understanding the power of words can save your relationshipby: Pree DammondIt's not new news to learn that words are powerful. However, to understand fully how the use of your words can pour life into a relationship or destroy it is worth learning over and over again.

It's not far fetch to understand how your thoughts can become manifestations and how the Laws of Attraction work to uplift you into total life prosperity or bury you under pounds of toxic self inflicted in securities.

Words either direct or indirect are brain seeds that eventually grow in 2 ways in the mind. They either grow into secure principles and moral foundations; or they grow into little cancer cells that spread throughout your mind destroying any great thought that survives.

To gain a better understanding of words we first have to know the correct meaning and definition of those words. Many time couples use words out of context which further complicate their abilities to understand one another. The quick resolve to this is spending time with one another that is dedicated to teaching each other their vocabulary.

It is interesting to find out that due to the miss use of words or the misunderstanding of the use of words could cause so much drama in a typically good relationship. Spend time explaining to one another what key words mean to you.

It is an even greater idea that when attempting to resolve communication issue between men and women that the use of vocabulary remain very simple. In short, arguments or disagreements are not the time to show off how intellectual you are by the use of an extensive vocabulary.K.I.S.S and make up. If "Keep it simple stupid" can consistently be taught to engineers in order to promote safety and more tolerable constructions then you can apply it too to save your relationship.

Words can be use to build people up or tear them down. Words can be used to plant seeds into your subliminal mind that motivate you to do good or evil. In short, words are definitely powerful.

Here's an example:

Scenario:Your man walks in from a tiresome day at the office and says I don't know how long I can take this crazy boss?

2 different answers from woman:

1. Woman walks over to man and rubs the back of his neck and says, Honey you are the best man I know. I am confident in your ability to change your situations at work for the benefit of you and your family. <---> The use of words here are powerful in motivating positive change while boosting good self esteem in her man through faith not just in him but in herself to be ability to help change his situation indirectly.

2. Woman says, Baby I don't know what you're going to do either but I know these bills aren't going to stop coming so you better deal with it. < ---> The use of these words are very weak here and promote nothing positive. In fact, the use of these words only piggy backs on his initial uneasiness and concerns at work which doesn't create creative thinking in her man.

In summary, words have specific meanings so use them in the context they were design to be used. I would suggest that you pay attention daily of your use of words and how they directly and indirectly effect others around you.

To become a better conversing civilization, we have to install a sense of responsibility for one another and our words. It's not about self but how empowering those around you, will make YOU (the new product of your environment) a better person in a better place in your relationship.

While present at The Black Enterprise Entrepreneur Conference held in Atlanta it came to my attention that there are a lot of people including myself at the time who were not aware of the 51 to 49 rule. On behalf of the public, I would like to thank Tim Burt from Tim Burt Enterprises for sharing his knowledge and concept of what the 51 to 49 Rules actually means and how minorities can benefit from it.

Put simply, the 51 to 49 rule is the percentage of business ownership entitlement between a Minority Woman and Man who have decided to go into business with one another as partners. Usually, the man will agree to entitle the woman 51 percent ownership in any new business start ups; regardless of who originates the business idea or not, in order to ensure fair funding practices from grant organizations and investors.

Poor business practices from minority men of the past have made it less favorable for venture capitalist and bankers to trust that new business men are handling their funds appropriately and honestly. However sad, this is what the honorable minority men of today have to face.

In retrospect, there are more female entrepreneurs than there are male entrepreneurs. There are more successful women making a difference in the business community than their male counter parts. With that being said, Investors and bankers are more willing to trust their loans, investments, or grants with businesses that are primarily owned by minority Women.

The resolution is team work between minority men and minority women the way nature intended it to be.

The advantages are listed below:

More assistance to new business practices -female

A natural nurturing partner who builds a business with care -female

More opportunity for Grants, and Loan programs –female&male

Diverse demographic of business –female&male

Diverse perspective which originates new ideas and innovations –female&male

Less underestimation from investors –male

Traditional Business respect –male

The disadvantages are listed below:

As a male partner, lawfully you're only entitled to 49 percent of the potential millions of dollars you’ll generate with your female partner regarding that 1 business venture.

No more male Ego

It seems like a win win situation to me. I'd rather have something than nothing. Just like the the power couple concept, where a husband and wife remain focused on total life prosperity through effective communication, honesty, and team work...The 51 to 49 rule gives minority entrepreneurs a window of hope in bridging the gap between those giving the funds and those receiving the funds.

I know you have heard the cliché; Your Network is your Net-worth. Until, you Network efficiently you may never understand why this is true. However, I will give you my insight on why I feel that your Network is your Net-worth and how to Network efficiently.

Basically, you are as good as the people around you. It’s the same way in sports. If you play with Starters, you’ll eventually become a Starter or at least raise the bar on your skill level as such. It’s the same way in business. If you network and create business with the business elites, you will become the business elite.

You can’t compare networking in a dance club with a pocket full of business cards to attending a professional Networking Conference or Trade Show event.

Here are 7 Key steps to networking efficiently.

Prepare a quick 3 to 5 minute Introduction to your business including the services it provide and or the products it’s able to produce.

Always attend a networking event with a ledger/notebook with pen in hand. Although you have business cards, you may want to write down specific notes about the person or persons you meet to organize them from those you meet that may not serve an immediately purpose for your business.

Designate a send and receive pocket location for the business cards you collect versus the business cards that you distribute to those you meet at an event. It always makes you look organize when you can smoothly hand them a card immediately after they hand you theirs.

Sending the follow up email. A lot of times, most people will follow up with an email immediately after a networking event. I disagree with this method. I believe it to be more advantageous for you to send your follow up email at least 2 to 3 day prior to an event. Include in the email references that will remind the person of your encounter with them.

Stand out from the crowd. Whether it’s a joke or some sort of conversation piece that you are wearing. Leave those that you are interested in doing business with something that they can remember you by. Pens with your business info are a cheap and inexpensive way of giving your new network something memorable and functional. If not the marketing pen, then something else.

Attend the meeting with your calendar of events. Every business doesn’t require much time, but if your nature of business does it would be a good idea to bring your calendar in the event of meeting someone you may want to schedule a phone conference or meeting with.

Manage your time with each person you speak with. It’s a numbers game so do not become so long winded. The more people you meet, sometimes the better. I feel that quality out shines quantity on a bad day but your mission is not only to network for resources but to provide resources as well. You have to brand your company to as many people as possible.

Entrepreneur Tips for those that also work full time jobs.By Pree Dammond

The point of being an Entrepreneur is to make money the smart way and not the hard way.

This means leveraging the time and experience of other professionals to achieve the goals that you want to achieve. As new entrepreneurs you go out trying to learn everything it is to know about your profession just to become successful and get to a point where you hire other people to be more knowledgeable than you.

Keep it simple, start off by managing people in your new business instead of you doing all the leg work to achieve the goals that you want to achieve.

Hire consultants who have the experience and knowledge to achieve your goals. I know what you’re thinking. I can’t trust everyone with my baby, the business. My reply to that is you don’t have too. Building a brand, Marketing a company, and selling a product have nothing to do with trusting a single person with the success of your business. In developing your business, you will utilize the efforts of many to achieve your goals. Never allow one weak link to rack havoc on your operations.

Here are a few tips for Entrepreneurs who work a full time job.

Keep over head low by creating a list of work related necessities. This could help in determining what you need to spend and when.

Hire a professionals who have the time and experience to deliver your product or service to the market place effectively. Keep it simple, request status reports and proof of work done by your consultant. The experience of others isn’t always the most expensive if you have built a relationship with the consultant. Please understand you will be in the same position to help others the same way one day.

Always carry your business cards, no matter where you go. As an Entrepreneur, opportunity is everything to you success. You can not predict when it will come or go, so always be open and ready to network and exchange information.

Never let your appearance be the reason you keep your mouth close. Remember is not about how you look but the content of what you are saying to a prospective client or customer. It’s a good idea to always look your best, but in life we know that we all have a bad day. However, we would never predict that on a bad day you would meet that enterprise client.

Have your personal life in order. Starting a business or business practice is like creating another life that you have to manage, so it is highly recommended that your personal life be in order because there are unforeseen stresses that come with being an Entrepreneur.

Join Associations and become more active in your community. A lot of times, you first business venture will be supported by those in your community.

Have a business plan or blue print of your project scope. It is highly recommended that you don’t spend a dime without have a well drawn out road map of the journey you are about to take as an Entrepreneur.

Create a business around your specialty and see it through. This an easy way to keep things simple and you’ll find that you will receive more work from specializing in a particular area of service.

Teach others what you know. A lot of times, this serves you more than you think. It forces you to be responsible for your knowledge and fortifies your fundamental foundation of business expertise.

Respect the penny. Money is money and if you don’t have respect for it. It will leave you, defeating the purpose of being an Entrepreneur.

Create a mandatory schedule for yourself to manage your revenue and expenses.

Develop a mind in being able to see your opportunity in the other person. It’s not always what someone can do for you, but what you can do for someone else that will make you successful. Teach one to fish, and that person will invite you to dinner.

Do not get stuck on just working your passion. Keep your mind open on starting several businesses. It is important to be passionate about the business you establish, but it is also important to understand that you start a business to make money. If not, it’s a hobby.

Okay, I just finished up a few proposals that will go out to local business owners and event coordinators in the later morning. It is now 3:50 AM. Earlier I had a venting session on twitter @THEREALPREE, which has seem to give me some sort of therapeutic release for the lost of my daughter. I won't make a habit of that, but do feel that showing your human side in social media does show your human nature. A computer can auto tweet all day, but feeling a connection with those that you follow can have it's rewards.

This is my first post on my new site. However, it is not my first site ever. I aim to keep this site not just motivational but also informative. I feel that we still have an obligation to our community to up lift those with low spirits and possibly give them some sort of guidance along the way. For those, who feel like they don't have a clue in life, don't worry. I will assist you in getting those creative juices flowing. Until, next time. God bless, and Good Night.